Campus Mourns the Death of Free Thought

5-C students awoke this morning to find a venue of campus debate suddenly gone. The comments section of the notorious Claremont Conservative blog has been disabled by the blog’s author, CMC sophomore Charles Johnson.

“I have to disproportionately punish you,” Johnson wrote in a post to his readers. “All I want to do is talk about ideas.”

Campus reactions to Johnson’s ban were mixed.

“I read the comments section every day for the fruitful debates that always transpired there,” said one CMC senior.

“Isn’t his blog’s catchphrase ‘Free Thought is Back’?” wondered a professor, who said he is a frequent anonymous commenter.

“Who’s a censor-in-chief now?” wailed a freshman Starkie, who then tore his clothes.

“I don’t have the time to explain or argue against everything said in the comment section,” Johnson continued in this morning’s post. He is known for his tendency to dog commenters with personal responses.

Said one baseball player, “You can take away my comments, but you can never take away my freedom!” He was then seen running into Ryal Lab. We’ve learned that he’s now started claremontcatcher.blogspot.com.

Abhi Nemani, editor here at the CMC Forum, had a characteristically web-based solution to the problem.

“The beauty of blogging is that its easily syndicated. It’d be simple to publish all of Charles’ content on another blog, where comments aren’t disabled. We’ve got Web 2.0. Why stem the tide of free debate? I’m thinking icanhazfreethought.com.”

werd

All your thought are belong to us.
werd

All your thought are belong to us.
http://claremontindependent.com Charles Johnson

I just thought I would point out how disingenuous the Forum is being here. They record people’s IP addresses when they comment on here. All I am asking is that people email me if they want to put something online. I may change the policy. I haven’t decided.
http://claremontindependent.com Charles Johnson

I just thought I would point out how disingenuous the Forum is being here. They record people’s IP addresses when they comment on here. All I am asking is that people email me if they want to put something online. I may change the policy. I haven’t decided.

Josh Siegel

99%+ of websites record IP addresses of visitors, including yours. That’s how you have that little map of your visitors on the side, for example. As for the Forum, it isn’t possible with our current host to turn off IP logging.

http://claremontindependent.com Charles Johnson

Abhi’s very correct about the technological solution, but I won’t have to worry about my grandmother or litle sister reading about attacks on my weight or sexuality.
http://claremontindependent.com Charles Johnson

Abhi’s very correct about the technological solution, but I won’t have to worry about my grandmother or litle sister reading about attacks on my weight or sexuality.
LOL

I thought this post at the Portside was really funny!!!

Charles, while you’re at it, why don’t you delete posts as well!
LOL

I thought this post at the Portside was really funny!!!

Charles, while you’re at it, why don’t you delete posts as well!
LOL

Oh and Charles, here’s a new tagline:

Free Thought Has Disappeared Again.
LOL

Oh and Charles, here’s a new tagline:

Free Thought Has Disappeared Again.
http://claremontconservative.com Charles Johnson

You’re free to write whatever you want on the comment section. Just be polite and I’ll put it up.
http://claremontconservative.com Charles Johnson

I’m just tired of dealing with left wing trolls.
http://claremontconservative.com Charles Johnson

You’re free to write whatever you want on the comment section. Just be polite and I’ll put it up.
http://claremontconservative.com Charles Johnson

I’m just tired of dealing with left wing trolls.
Crossed the Line?

I don’t understand why a school sponsored newspaper should target, attack, and make fun of specific individuals. Yes, it’s humor, but it clearly has a point. (And that point by the way isn’t really fair: Charles is no hypocrite simply by recognized that comments section is a distraction from the content he wants to produce. His blog is a not meant to be a “forum,” and what he’s doing is very different from deleting posts he simply doesn’t agree with.)

It’s seems pretty rotten when students running the Forum decide Charles is fair game simply because a lot of students don’t like him. In fact, the author isn’t even named, so it’s simply written by “The Forum.” Abhi, isn’t this rather tasteless? With your high standards, why did you let this one get by?

These attacks are getting old

I agree with this one hundred percent. This senseless bickering between the Portside, Claremont Conservative, and now apparently the CMCForum is getting ridiculous. While I admit that given Charles’ blog’s prominence, this change may be newsworthy, but this article is completely over the top. These anonymous posts have to stop. I also notice that this is the first article under the tag of “Humor.” Even the Staghen articles (clearly humor) are listed under “Life.” Was this tag just made up, so the author could post this attack on Charles, yet claim that this “humor?” Sounds fishy.

Seriously, let’s not turn the Forum into another Claremont Confessions, where people can post anonymous opinions. Show a little backbone by putting your name in the byline.

http://abhinemani.com Abhi Nemani

Just to let you know the Humor section is new–to handle non-Staghen satire–and Staghen articles from here on out will appear in Humor. Sorry for the confusion.
We Know the Line

I agree.

But keep in mind, that we know what the line is and that it exists. For Charles, everything and your Uncle’s brain tumor is fair game.

Having said that, he is a hypocrite for censoring comments and professing his love for free speech at the same time.

Abhi, please mark the humor articles and separate them from other stories. I thought this piece was great and want to see more like it.
Kim M.

Crosses the line? This article doesn’t contain any ad hominem attacks on Charles Johnson and is a far cry from anything posted on Claremont Confessions. It does make fun of the Claremont Conservative and Charles’s new editorial policy, which I think is fair. As you stated, the CC is well-read. A humorous article on a major policy change on a webpage so many students visit isn’t out of place here.

Also, I think your plea to end the anonymous posts would have more weight if there was a name behind it.

Keep up the good work, Abhi.
Crossed the Line?

Kim, I don’t think I need to put my name behind my post to point out that this piece unfairly targeted an individual. I also don’t understand why everyone feels like Charles must be obligated to allow commenters in order to make him a defender of free speech. That’s silly. It’s his blog for his opinions. He can choose the most appropriate way to use it. The Forum debate did not center around comments or no comments. It centered around deleting comments that the editors decided they didn’t like. That’s why many of us believed it was unfair censorship. You’ll allow some comments–but only those with political stances you like. However, if the Forum decided it wanted to get rid of comments altogether, that would be totally reasonable. They wouldn’t be censoring anyone; they’d just be changing the rules of their site. The distinction is rather easy to understand. I think most of Charles’s liberal critics are smart enough to see why Charles’s actions are not hypocritical. But they aren’t really interested in arguing the finer points of free speech. Most of them just hate him so much they’ll jump at a chance to take a cheap shot at him. Thinking and talking about issues–or “having a dialogue”–simply don’t matter. No wonder he dropped the comments section.

Crossed the Line?

I don’t understand why a school sponsored newspaper should target, attack, and make fun of specific individuals. Yes, it’s humor, but it clearly has a point. (And that point by the way isn’t really fair: Charles is no hypocrite simply by recognized that comments section is a distraction from the content he wants to produce. His blog is a not meant to be a “forum,” and what he’s doing is very different from deleting posts he simply doesn’t agree with.)

It’s seems pretty rotten when students running the Forum decide Charles is fair game simply because a lot of students don’t like him. In fact, the author isn’t even named, so it’s simply written by “The Forum.” Abhi, isn’t this rather tasteless? With your high standards, why did you let this one get by?

These attacks are getting old

I agree with this one hundred percent. This senseless bickering between the Portside, Claremont Conservative, and now apparently the CMCForum is getting ridiculous. While I admit that given Charles’ blog’s prominence, this change may be newsworthy, but this article is completely over the top. These anonymous posts have to stop. I also notice that this is the first article under the tag of “Humor.” Even the Staghen articles (clearly humor) are listed under “Life.” Was this tag just made up, so the author could post this attack on Charles, yet claim that this “humor?” Sounds fishy.

Seriously, let’s not turn the Forum into another Claremont Confessions, where people can post anonymous opinions. Show a little backbone by putting your name in the byline.

http://abhinemani.com Abhi Nemani

Just to let you know the Humor section is new–to handle non-Staghen satire–and Staghen articles from here on out will appear in Humor. Sorry for the confusion.
We Know the Line

I agree.

But keep in mind, that we know what the line is and that it exists. For Charles, everything and your Uncle’s brain tumor is fair game.

Having said that, he is a hypocrite for censoring comments and professing his love for free speech at the same time.

Abhi, please mark the humor articles and separate them from other stories. I thought this piece was great and want to see more like it.
Kim M.

Crosses the line? This article doesn’t contain any ad hominem attacks on Charles Johnson and is a far cry from anything posted on Claremont Confessions. It does make fun of the Claremont Conservative and Charles’s new editorial policy, which I think is fair. As you stated, the CC is well-read. A humorous article on a major policy change on a webpage so many students visit isn’t out of place here.

Also, I think your plea to end the anonymous posts would have more weight if there was a name behind it.

Keep up the good work, Abhi.
Crossed the Line?

Kim, I don’t think I need to put my name behind my post to point out that this piece unfairly targeted an individual. I also don’t understand why everyone feels like Charles must be obligated to allow commenters in order to make him a defender of free speech. That’s silly. It’s his blog for his opinions. He can choose the most appropriate way to use it. The Forum debate did not center around comments or no comments. It centered around deleting comments that the editors decided they didn’t like. That’s why many of us believed it was unfair censorship. You’ll allow some comments–but only those with political stances you like. However, if the Forum decided it wanted to get rid of comments altogether, that would be totally reasonable. They wouldn’t be censoring anyone; they’d just be changing the rules of their site. The distinction is rather easy to understand. I think most of Charles’s liberal critics are smart enough to see why Charles’s actions are not hypocritical. But they aren’t really interested in arguing the finer points of free speech. Most of them just hate him so much they’ll jump at a chance to take a cheap shot at him. Thinking and talking about issues–or “having a dialogue”–simply don’t matter. No wonder he dropped the comments section.

http://www.duelingdiatribes.com Dueling Diatribes

We are indirectly hosting all of CJ’s new controversial articles at http://www.duelingdiatribes.com/1980/04/claremont-conservative.html
All Comments, anonymous or regular, are welcome
For copyright purposes we can’t mirror the entire site but we can get all of CJ’s controversial stuff and “transform” it.

If anyone has suggestions on what to do, email us or leave a comment. The CJ articles won’t show up under duelingdiatribes.com but you can access the claremont conservative tab from there.

wow

honestly, if people start posting on another blog just to respond to Charles’ post, they really need to find something else to do with their time. who really actually cares what charles writes on his blog? it may be controversial, but do people really *care* what he writes?

http://www.duelingdiatribes.com Dueling Diatribes

We are indirectly hosting all of CJ’s new controversial articles at http://www.duelingdiatribes.com/1980/04/claremont-conservative.html
All Comments, anonymous or regular, are welcome
For copyright purposes we can’t mirror the entire site but we can get all of CJ’s controversial stuff and “transform” it.

If anyone has suggestions on what to do, email us or leave a comment. The CJ articles won’t show up under duelingdiatribes.com but you can access the claremont conservative tab from there.

wow

honestly, if people start posting on another blog just to respond to Charles’ post, they really need to find something else to do with their time. who really actually cares what charles writes on his blog? it may be controversial, but do people really *care* what he writes?

http://cmcforum.com ridiculous

Charles Johnson’s new policy change directly contradicts his lauments about the importance of free speech. He deserves to be called out on such a hypocritical stance. Further, it is astonishing that Charles can claim to be so insulted by weight and sexuality comments when he reguarly issues far more serious attacks on others. The fact remains- Charles is a hypocritical hobbit.
http://cmcforum.com ridiculous

Charles Johnson’s new policy change directly contradicts his lauments about the importance of free speech. He deserves to be called out on such a hypocritical stance. Further, it is astonishing that Charles can claim to be so insulted by weight and sexuality comments when he reguarly issues far more serious attacks on others. The fact remains- Charles is a hypocritical hobbit.
http://claremontconservative.com Charles Johnson

Sigh. Yet another critic who doesn’t know what he is talking about.
http://claremontconservative.com Charles Johnson

Sigh. Yet another critic who doesn’t know what he is talking about.

Photos
Videos
Activity
Tweets

Follow @cmcforum